Eavesdropping
by KarotsaMused
Summary: Sometimes merely overhearing a conversation can send one jumping to conclusions...COMPLETE!
1. In Theory

A/N: Yes, it's a bit of a tired topic, but I had to try my hand. It's just too fun.  
  
Disclaimer: Saiyuki doesn't belong to me, and I am not making money from the publication of this fiction.   
  
Warnings: Language, but that's it. Really. Oh, and slight hints of Sanzo/Goku, but that's -extremely- slight.  
  
***  
  
Sanzo snapped his reading glasses open and relinquished himself to the first newspaper he'd gotten his hands on in quite a while. The articles were slightly outdated and there were half-circle coffee mug stains blurring some of the words, but it was a newspaper. It was an excuse to ignore the noise about him.  
  
Noise. Come to think of it, the lack thereof that afternoon was slightly unsettling. The saru had found himself a niche in the kitchen downstairs with a pretty girl who was not averse to sneaking him scraps as she cooked. Gojyo had yet to emerge from his room, having gotten drunk enough the prior night (and far into the morning) to provide for a strong enough hangover to keep him down for at least another hour, noting their quarters provided no liquor of their own to soften the blow. Hakkai had gone out for supplies, busying himself with the comfortable monotony of general upkeep.  
  
Sanzo lit the last cigarette in his pack and fervently wished Hakkai would hurry back to the inn. It had been awhile since they'd gotten the opportunity to really shop for supplies, though, so he resigned himself to the fact that he might have to suffer from withdrawal before the green-eyed youkai's return. The rough, brittle paper before his eyes was enough to satisfy him for the time being, but even a simple pleasure such as sitting and just reading could never override a favored addiction.  
  
So, the dogend hung from his lips until it burned him and was smashed into an ashtray by way of retribution.  
  
Sanzo glanced up from his private bout of vengeance at an unobtrusive knock. "I'm back," came Hakkai's voice from behind a heaping armful of supplies.  
  
"Hn," Sanzo replied, discreetly wiping the ash from his hand onto the backside of his thigh. He took the pack Hakkai offered, noting the golden gleam of his credit card shining from its hiding place among the cigarettes inside the carton. In retrospect, the protective ritual was amusing.  
  
"Can I leave these in here? I'll load Jiipu before we go." The little dragon from about Hakkai's neck chirped softly in agreement.  
  
Sanzo shrugged one shoulder, never taking his eyes from his paper. Even the dripping head of hair soon hovering by his ear never once tore his attention from the news.  
  
Gojyo reeled back, clutching his nose. Through his hand and a slight grin, he muttered, "One day I'll find out just where you keep that fan, Sanzo-sama."  
  
"Feeling better, Gojyo?" Hakkai asked before Sanzo could build up a good enough silence to refuse to dignify Gojyo's comment.  
  
"Aa. 'S amazing what a good, cold shower will do."   
  
Sanzo quirked an eyebrow. There hadn't been mention of washroom facilities beyond a basin outside.  
  
Gojyo waved an empty canteen in answer to the unspoken question. "I improvised."  
  
Hakkai chuckled. "Are you hungry?"  
  
"Yeah, but I need you to come with me before that. I require assistance."  
  
Sanzo made a mental note, dripping with sarcasm, about the astonishing amount of syllables Gojyo had managed to string together in his current state. Hakkai followed Gojyo upon his request, leaving Hakuryuu with the supplies and Sanzo to his reading.  
  
The monk leaned back in his chair and lit a fresh cigarette, savoring for just that moment the flavor unadulterated by dirt and noise.   
  
A thud akin to something hard and solid ramming into an object equally characterized shot adrenaline through his body. The disturbance was soon followed by a loud, low moan that, for all the world, sounded painfully luxurious. Sanzo took off his glasses and reached inside his robe for the reassuring weight of the Smith & Wesson.  
  
He crept from the room and into the hallway, finding the sounds emanating from behind Gojyo's closed door.  
  
"Gomen, Gojyo, it's too big for me."  
  
Sanzo's violet eyes widened a bare millimeter before he reined his expression back into place.  
  
Heavy breathing and a bit of breathless laughter. "You can handle it fine. Let's try again."  
  
Hakkai and Gojyo grunted in unison as a low creak brought to Sanzo's ears the cry of furniture stretching toward its breaking point. Sanzo settled upon the only conclusion that came to mind, and thus conveniently forgot to hate himself for continuing to listen.  
  
"There, keep it there, Hakkai, I'm only partway..."  
  
"Gojyo, I..." Breathless, Hakkai seemed unable to finish his sentence.  
  
"Hold it, Hakkai, just hold it." Gojyo grunted again, and another thud accompanied the noise, though this didn't shake the walls as the earlier one had.  
  
"Why...didn't...you just ask...Goku?" Hakkai asked between breaths.  
  
Sanzo had to bite his fist to keep from screaming, and then cursed Hakkai for not only making him hurt himself but for even bringing Goku into the situation.  
  
Gojyo laughed, then cut it off with another groan. "Damn, in there tight," he grunted. "I didn't...nngh...ask the saru because he doesn't get it! And hell, I'd never hear the end of it."  
  
Sanzo tried to force the mental pictures away, but only succeeded in bringing to light the effect the saru could have on him. Disgusted with the entire circumstance, Sanzo forced himself to turn and nearly collided with the very boy he'd been trying to wipe from his thoughts.  
  
"What's going on, Sanzo?" Goku asked, innocence radiating from every pore.  
  
At that point, Sanzo relied on instinct. "Bakasaru!" he hissed, bringing the harisen soundly down upon Goku's head and rushing him away from Gojyo's room while he was still dazed.  
  
Even with the barrier of an empty room and a hallway between them, Sanzo heard Hakkai cry, "Gojyo, I'm losing...losing it!"  
  
This third and final thud not only shook the walls but brought with it an ominous cracking noise. Sanzo avoided Goku's questioning gaze. His only reassurance was the simple but effective mantra he repeated ever since having started his damn' journey to the West. 'I'll kill him for it.'  
  
"Sanzo, should we go check on them?"  
  
Before he could stop himself, a hoarse "No!" escaped his throat. Then, forcing his usual mannerism back into place, he repeated the edict. "No."  
  
Hakkai appeared in the doorway moments later, wiping sweat from his forehead. "So, are we ready?"  
  
Gojyo, hoisting his shakujou over his shoulder with a grin, replied, "I am. May as well get going, eh?"  
  
Hakkai nodded with a small smile. "Yes, but, well...Sanzo-sama, could I borrow your credit card again? It seems we've done a bit of damage to Gojyo's room."  
  
"Not my fault the bed's heavy," Gojyo interjected, a leer twisting his features as in every other comment of questionable nature.  
  
"Yes, well, the floor will need to be repaired, and that says nothing for the wall."  
  
Goku jumped when Sanzo slammed the card down on the table. "Stop!...talking. I'll...I'll be outside." The monk strode from the room, the contentment of his newspaper forgotten.  
  
Gojyo raised an eyebrow. "What's eating him?" 


	2. In Truth

A/N: And this is what *really* happened...  
  
***  
  
Hakkai stared at the mess with undisguised disbelief. "How did this come about?"  
  
Gojyo shrugged a bit sheepishly. "I was drunk? And, well, I can't get it out from under the bed now, so I need someone to hold it up for me."  
  
Hakkai frowned, but took his place at the foot of the bed. "On three."  
  
"One, two, three!" Gojyo dove under the bed as Hakkai heaved it up as far as he could.  
  
A barely audible gasp was Gojyo's only warning before Hakkai dropped the load. As it was, the water sprite shot out from under the bed, tripped on his own bootlaces and gouged himself in the stomach with a vicious end table.  
  
Gojyo groaned, low and deep, dropping his forehead to rest against the rough wood.  
  
Hakkai rubbed his fingers. "Gomen, Gojyo, it's too big for me."  
  
Gojyo smiled and straightened, breathing deeply to override the pain. "You can handle it fine. Let's try again."  
  
Hakkai looked uncertain but Gojyo nodded in reassurance, and they acted upon unspoken signal, each grunting as he moved. Hakkai hoisted the bed onto two legs and steadied himself as best he could, but he couldn't help staggering under its weight. The thing was made of solid wood two feet thick, with a dense mattress and half of Gojyo's belongings on it besides. Plus, having to lift it high enough so that Gojyo could fit beneath was quite a trial.  
  
When he looked down, he saw the extent of the damage Gojyo had already done. Somehow the ero-kappa had managed to shove the blade end of his shakujou so deeply into the wall beneath his bed he was straining to get it free.   
  
"There, keep it there, Hakkai, I'm only halfway..." Gojyo wriggled beneath the bed to get better bearings, and heaved with a loud groan. The shakujou refused to budge.  
  
Hakkai was beginning to lose feeling in his wrists. "Gojyo, I..."  
  
"Hold it, Hakkai, just hold it." Gojyo pulled again, kicking hard with both his feet against the wall. The result left the shakujou planted firmly as ever, though the kick had allowed Gojyo to vent a bit of his frustration.  
  
"Why...didn't...you just ask...Goku?" Hakkai asked, thinking of the difference in brute strength and stamina.  
  
Gojyo laughed, then tugged again. "Damn, in there tight," he grunted, shifting his grip. "I didn't...nngh...ask the saru because he doesn't get it! And hell, I'd never hear the end of it." He bit his lip and tugged again, muttering, "Bakasaru pulls his nyoibou out of thin air, doesn't know what it's like to have to lug it around!"  
  
They both looked toward the door at the sound of someone being hit by a familiar paper fan, but Hakkai's grunt urged Gojyo back to the business at hand.  
  
He finally managed to free the shakujou as Hakkai cried, "Gojyo, I'm losing...losing it!"  
  
As Gojyo rolled away, Hakkai dropped the bed. And blushed as the impact left dents in the wooden floor. Gojyo grinned and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Much obliged."  
  
Hakkai smiled in that uncomfortable, modest way of his and nudged Gojyo out into the hallway. "Come on, we shouldn't keep the others waiting." 


	3. Secondary Theory

A/N: Well, yeah, why the heck not. I'm continuing this.  
  
In response to UltraM and those who agree with said reviewer: Yeah, yeah, I know the Shakujou can appear out of absolutely nowhere as proficiently as the Nyoibou, but there's no saying Gojyo's not prone to pull it out while in drunken rancor. Even if he is a rather happy drunk. And, hell, if the Shakujou hadn't gotten jammed under his bed in the first place, where would this fiction be?  
  
Enjoy part two of Sanzo's bouts of conclusion-jumping!  
  
***  
  
Sanzo cocked his gun and pointed it over his shoulder without looking back. "You'll regret it if you don't."  
  
Gojyo and Goku stopped mid-slur and sat back, each looking away from the other. Mutters of "He started it" and "bakasaru" were hardly stifled, but they were preferable to the shouting match that had been taking place.  
  
Hakkai drove on, a soft smile curving his features. It was, as always, exasperated and affectionate. Sanzo couldn't bear to look at him. He found himself wondering if, at that moment, Hakkai's smile was influenced, adulterated by memories punctuated by the weight of a certain warm body in the backseat.   
  
A familiar complaint yanked Sanzo from his thoughts. "Oi, Sanzo...I'm hungry!"  
  
"You're always hungry." He willingly engaged in the argument, if only to keep himself from 'deducing' far more than was comfortable.  
  
*  
  
It turned out the day was frightfully uneventful, so much so that Sanzo dozed off in the front seat despite Jiipu's jarring. He did not dream, only suffered the restless fits of unconsciousness common to those too exhausted to really sleep. When he awoke, he saw the sunset from the passenger seat, one hand curled beneath his chin. In the obligatory half-second it takes a sleeper to fully comprehend his surroundings, Jiipu hit a well-hidden dip that lifted him from his seat. Obviously, this little pre-coherency flight did nothing for his mood.  
  
Worse, Hakkai seemed to be out for him. "Well, we were wondering when you'd wake up."  
  
Upon this announcement, Goku and Gojyo simultaneously began pleas both eloquent and guttural for food and rest.  
  
"There's a town up ahead," Hakkai added, almost conversationally.  
  
Sanzo glared at the growing silhouette on the horizon, but admitted defeat. Even if they had only been driving for the latter part of the day, the push to head West wasn't so powerful as to override Sanzo's preference for a hot meal and the prospect of coffee in the morning. "Fine. We'll stop. But I'm not preaching."  
  
He could -feel- Gojyo leering at him, the ero-kappa's lips curving slowly. "You could always go out in your leathers. They'd never recognize you."  
  
Not being in prime position to cause Gojyo grievous bodily harm, Sanzo kept his gaze straight ahead and replied, "Too cold tonight." And Gojyo's grin grew. Sanzo couldn't bring himself to care, apathy running strong this evening after earlier...excitements. And, somehow, because of them, Gojyo didn't seem as imposing of a figure upon his chastity even in jest. Sanzo couldn't decide whether the relief outweighed the blow to his ego.  
  
Hakkai pulled up in front of a promising abode and ventured inside, while Gojyo, Goku, and Sanzo opted to stay with Jiipu. Sanzo hated dodging notice like some criminal, but he hated the recognition even more, and knew Gojyo and Goku felt the same way. So they hunched inconspicuously behind protective green doors.  
  
"Oi, Goku," Gojyo murmured softly, rousing a soft, questioning grunt from the saru in reply.  
  
Sanzo tuned out their conversation in deference to his own sanity and awaited only Hakkai's return.  
  
*  
  
The lodgings were acceptable, if cramped. Truthfully, though, Sanzo didn't mind sharing a room with Gojyo. As long as the room had separate beds and the ero-kappa wasn't drunk or even moderately horny. He would have preferred Hakkai's company for the man's characteristic soft-spoken manner (and his constant respect of Sanzo's personal space), but that would leave Goku and Gojyo alone to their own devices. Which usually entailed shouting matches, wrestling, and fist-sized bruises. The two were, at that moment, having a rather heated argument in the room next door, the one Goku was to share with Hakkai.  
  
Sleeping in the same room as the saru...Sanzo had forced the thought from his mind as quickly as it had come. Instead, he sat quiet with a cigarette and a window to brood by. The supplies were scattered around him like some sort of shrine, if only so they were not in the same room as Goku when his perpetual hunger reached one of its daily crescendos.  
  
"Get Sanzo to judge," Goku said, and the mention of his name pulled the monk from his reverie.  
  
Gojyo snorted. "The Great Sanzo-sama can't be bothered with something like this, baka. Oi, Hakkai!"  
  
"He's downstairs," Goku replied, ire evident in his voice. "Go get him if you want him so badly."  
  
"Calm, Goku," Gojyo sauntered past Sanzo's door with hardly a glance inside. "I didn't even call you saru that time!"  
  
Sanzo took a long drag off of his cigarette and waited for the nicotine to soothe his craving. He rubbed absently at the knot of muscle at the base of his neck that had formed during his impromptu nap. There was a young woman outside his window, with soft curls the color of honey spilling down her back. As he steadfastly refused to notice her, so she did to him.  
  
"Found him!" Gojyo called, dragging Hakkai into the room next door. "Hakkai, we need you to tell us whose is bigger."  
  
A low chuckle. "Far be it for me to deny you something you -need-, then."  
  
"Bring it out, Goku," Gojyo says in reply. "Don't cheat and pull on it."  
  
In a bright voice that clearly held the undertone of 'baka, baka, baka...' Goku replied, "I don't have to pull on it to make it bigger."  
  
Sanzo suddenly found the blonde outside his window highly enthralling. He watched her flirt with a gangly youth obviously unused to engaging in conversation with a beautiful girl. It was, to Sanzo, a more acceptable sort of voyeurism.  
  
Goku's command broke into Sanzo's fervent reasoning. "Don't count the tops, Hakkai."  
  
Gojyo laughed. "Because mine's bigger, eh, saru?"  
  
"Hold them still or I'll never be able to tell." Hakkai quieted the other two and his silence brought to Sanzo images of his calculating expression.  
  
"Gojyo, stop moving," Hakkai admonished an instant later, amusement evident in his voice. "Do I have to hold them for you two?"  
  
Sanzo nearly bit through his cigarette. As it was, he got an unpleasant mouthful when he burst the seam. The blonde was still talking to her suitor, who blushed frequently with the comments that fell from her lips. Idly, for the sake of ignoring the contest next door, he wondered what could make him blush so brightly.  
  
Sanzo realized he was spectator to two half-conversations, a visual missing sound and a soundtrack without the scenery. Neither of which, at the moment, was conductive to his contentment.  
  
"Yeah, well at least mine doesn't -bend- when you push on it," Gojyo said, obviously trying to cover up after hearing that Hakkai's verdict did not flatter as he had expected.  
  
Goku snarled, replying, "It's -supposed- to bend!"  
  
Sanzo opened the window, spat cigarette innards to the street below, and debated whether to laugh or beat someone into insensibility. He settled on immersing himself in the coldness of the night air and a private bout of humorous sarcasm at the truth about Gojyo's apparent inadequacies.  
  
Gojyo came into the room then, sprawling lazily upon his cot. "Shouldn't have told Goku about earlier today."  
  
Sanzo kept his head outside the window until he was sure he could breathe normally, then met the brown eyes of the blonde he'd been watching earlier. She waved jovially to him, and he spared her little more than a nod before ducking back inside. Gojyo, sprawled upon the cot with his arms behind his head, was grumbling to himself.  
  
"Sure he cheated...he can change the size of that thing whenever he wants."  
  
Sanzo swallowed hard and managed to grind out, "Why do you care?"  
  
Gojyo shrugged. "Principle of the thing. Boys and their toys, ne?" He yawned dramatically and began to put up his hair. "Ma, I'm tired out."  
  
Sanzo didn't let his face betray him, but inside he flinched. He allowed Gojyo to envelop them in darkness and wondered morbidly at the type of dreams to which he might be subject upon falling asleep. 


	4. Secondary Truth

A/N: And, again, here's what really happened. Hee.  
  
***  
  
Goku grinned from ear to ear. "Baka kappa, I was right!"  
  
Gojyo frowned and poked the nyoibou. "Yeah, well at least mine doesn't -bend- when you push on it."  
  
Goku snarled at Gojyo, protectively dematerializing the nyoibou to prevent further prodding. "It's -supposed- to bend!"  
  
Hakkai, perched comfortably on his cot, held up both his hands. "Come on, fellows. I'm sure Sanzo-sama will want to make up for lost ground tomorrow, so let's all get to sleep."  
  
Gojyo grumbled but waved a farewell and made his way to the room he was to share with said sadistic monk.  
  
Goku plopped onto his cot, laughing nervously when it gave an ominous creak.  
  
"So what was that all about?" Hakkai asked, running his hand through his hair and forcing himself not to regret picking the cheapest lodgings he could find. But oh, what he wouldn't have given for a good shower and, of all simple pleasures, a toothbrush.  
  
Goku shrugged. "He told me about getting his shakujou stuck under the bed and I said he was a moron for doing it. And then he told me if the shakujou had been small like my nyoibou he wouldn't've had so much trouble with it but that smaller weapons suit chibis." Goku made a face. Hakkai smiled wearily and plucked Hakuryuu from his shoulders as he lay down.  
  
The little dragon cooed and shifted in discomfort at being moved, but soon settled at the end of Hakkai's cot. "So you challenged him."  
  
Goku grinned. "Yeah! And I won, too! Even if Gojyo was moving the shakujou around. You should've grabbed it, Hakkai."  
  
Hakkai looked into Goku's triumphant face and sighed affectionately. "That, I fear, would have been dangerous. Go to sleep, Goku. Goodnight."  
  
"G'night, Hakkai."  
  
Hakkai rolled onto his side and wondered when Gojyo's endless testosterone would adulterate Goku's naivete. He certainly had taken the supposed inadequacy of his shakujou worse than could have been expected from such a playful contest. Then again, everything with Gojyo was a phallic metaphor.  
  
Next door, Sanzo and Gojyo simultaneously sneezed. Someone somewhere laughed until her sides cramped. 


	5. To Prove a Hypothesis

A/N: I'm ending this fic before it gets too ooc and too far out of hand. ^.^ But I hope you enjoy the shock of utter, sudden vindication. 'Twas fun. (THANKS to my reviewers! I love you all ^.^)  
  
***  
  
Sanzo opened his eyes to a clouded autumn morning, the mist in the air lending shadows to a world built in grayscale. The knot at the base of his neck had extended down through his shoulders, and he was cold. Good morning, all.  
  
Gojyo groaned from the other cot, stretching luxuriously and rising, catlike, into a sitting position. When not hung over, Gojyo had a certain feral grace that, had Sanzo not been in his characteristic frame of mind, could have been misconstrued for refined and powerful elegance. He undid his ponytail and yawned, blinking blearily into the white, filtered sunlight. "Morning, droopy-eyes," he murmured in greeting, slipping his arms into his vest. He then thought better of further moving and relinquished himself to gravity, bouncing as the cot struggled to support him.  
  
Sanzo looked over to his roommate and admitted to his own dislike of getting up in the morning. But he was cold, stiff, and hungry, and movement remedied at least two of the discomforts. The hunger could be ignored easily enough with a cup of coffee and a cigarette. He tried to sit and growled at the ache in his neck and shoulders.   
  
Gojyo flung his arm over his eyes at the explosion that sent a door flying open. Goku zoomed by in a beeline for the kitchen with hardly a greeting to those in the room he passed. Hakkai followed soon after, fully dressed and eerily cheerful.  
  
"Gojyo, aren't you cold?" he asked, nodding a 'good morning' to an unresponsive Sanzo. In truth, the redhead was sprawled on his cot in nothing more than a shirt, vest, and boxers. Sanzo pulled the rest of his robe on and found the fabric to be chilled from the remnants of the night. Goosebumps rose on the back of his neck at the contrast, having just shrugged away the hot, leaden blanket of deep sleep. And he really -had- slept well, to his mild surprise.   
  
"I had Sanzo-sama to keep me warm," Gojyo replied, grinning from under his arm. "The saru found the kitchen?"  
  
Hakkai rubbed his forehead. "I told him."  
  
Gojyo laughed. "Good one. Might want to go down for damage control."  
  
Sanzo frowned and turned his head toward Hakkai, inciting another shot of pain to course through the muscles in his neck. "I need coffee."  
  
Hakkai nodded and they left Gojyo to dress. At times like this, he could almost forget what he'd overheard.   
  
Sanzo was, above all, a logical man. Not rational, but twistedly, pridefully, often angrily logical. And, as he sat over his coffee and cigarette and depressing dearth of newspaper, he thought. He wondered at the sudden development between Gojyo and Hakkai, berated them for their idiocy. When Gojyo meandered into view, he caught the look given Hakkai and further cemented his hypothesis. Taking in mind the original incident he had overheard, the tension between the two could be reasonable proof. He seriously doubted last night's commotion fell along the same lines. At least...Hakkai would, he was sure, never allow any questionable contests between Gojyo and Goku. Sanzo cursed his imagination and took a long drag in partial bemusement as he realized he had one.   
  
The great Genjo Sanzo Houshii with an overactive imagination. Would wonders never cease? For the sake of his sanity, he wished it were so.  
  
*  
  
"Oh boy! Lookie, kids, we get to sleep in a potentially youkai-infested forest all because the damn' dragon doesn't feel like staying a damn' car!" Gojyo glared at Hakuryuu. The dragon blinked its red eyes at Gojyo and cooed pathetically.  
  
Hakkai put a protective hand over Hakuryuu. "Look, it does you no good to argue with a dragon, Gojyo. And you always complain when you have to sleep in the backseat. So think of this as an improvement."  
  
Gojyo grumbled but his agreement was evident as he turned to 'oversee' Goku's gathering of firewood.  
  
Hakkai made a show of stretching and said, "I'll take a look around to be sure. After sitting so long, a walk will be good."  
  
Sanzo didn't reply, feeling no need for Hakkai to even have reported his business. Every man should be able to take care of himself, and Sanzo had no inclination to play shepherd.  
  
An hour passed without evidence of Hakkai's presence. Goku breathed deeply and frowned.  
  
"I don't get it. I don't smell any youkai or blood or anything, so why isn't he back? Why isn't he back, Sanzo? I'm hungry!"  
  
Gojyo glared at Goku from his seat at the base of a tree. "If it makes you feel better I'll go look for him." He rose, brushed the dirt from the seat of his pants, and took off before Goku could object.  
  
The saru turned his pleading, golden eyes upon Sanzo.   
  
Before he could whine, Sanzo grabbed a pack of jerky and tossed it at him.  
  
In the white noise provided by the fire and Goku's chewing, Sanzo settled into what the untrained eye might quickly label as contentment. Even comfort. While Sanzo had far too much to disgust, discomfort, and annoy him, the misnomer was actually as close to accurate as it could really get. Sanzo doubted even Hakkai's welcome silence could gain favoritism over the singular, loud, raucous, adoring companionship of the saru. He was enough for ten men, let alone one like Sanzo, but on certain days Goku was more than worth it.   
  
Not that he'd admit that to anyone.  
  
Goku's ears perked and he stopped chewing in the middle of a huge mouthful. He swallowed hard and said, "I hear fighting."  
  
Sanzo frowned and patted his robes for the reassuring weight of his gun before following Goku toward the noise.  
  
"Gojyo, put it away!" Hakkai cried, accompanied by the sound of breaking branches.  
  
"Why the hell should I? You're bleeding!" Gojyo replied, slight worry twisting the ends of his words.   
  
"I always make it out, Gojyo, you've got to calm down." Hakkai's voice was smooth and persuasive. "Look, she's leaving."  
  
Goku stopped and Sanzo nearly barreled into him.  
  
"Hakkai's right, Sanzo. I don't hear any more fighting...and I still don't smell youkai."  
  
"Hn," Sanzo muttered, shaking out his shoulders. In the adrenaline rush, the muscles had knotted worse than before.  
  
"I'm going back to the fire and the food." Goku grinned and turned, stopping when Sanzo didn't follow. "Coming?"  
  
"No." Sanzo pulled out his pack and leaned against the tree. "I'll savor the silence out here."  
  
Goku shrugged, the prospect of more food at the moment outweighing his desire to be beside the monk. When he left, Sanzo made his way toward the commotion Hakkai and Gojyo were still making, more to question the possibility of more attacks than to see if they were all right. More snatches of conversation reached him as he neared them.  
  
"Damn' bear...why didn't you just let me kill it?"  
  
"It didn't know I wasn't a threat. I came upon her cub and she was being a good mother."  
  
Gojyo stopped complaining about the bear and instead turned his attention to Hakkai. "You okay?"  
  
"She scratched my arm, but other than that I'm fine." He sighed. "And I didn't restock the first aid kit. I don't want to waste bandages."  
  
"Use my shirt. That scratch looks...painful."  
  
Sanzo would have caught Hakkai's reply, no doubt modest and comforting, but he caught the end of his robe in a bush. Cursing himself, cursing the bush, cursing his damn' robes, Sanzo yanked his leg free. Twigs snapped around him and he stomped onward. If Hakkai didn't want to kill the bear, he sure as hell would for dragging him through the forest the long way on a wild goose chase. Now he meant to find Hakkai and Gojyo if only to discern where the bear went. Shooting something would be good for him.  
  
He followed the sounds of their conversation.  
  
"Damn, she got your whole arm."  
  
"Not so tight!"  
  
"Sorry," Gojyo hurriedly replied, obviously fumbling with torn strips of his shirt. "Better?"  
  
Hakkai's breath audibly hitched at the pressure, but he replied, "Yes."  
  
Sanzo finally crashed out through the undergrowth and over to the outcropping Gojyo and Hakkai had found themselves. And stopped mid-syllable.  
  
Hakkai's arm had been torn from shoulder to wrist, his sleeve in ribbons on the ground. Gojyo had obviously torn it off and was currently wrapping strips of his own shirt over the bloody mess of Hakkai's arm. Sanzo had been preparing himself for the image, but had to stop short at the fingers of Hakkai's other hand tangled in Gojyo's hair. He refused to even acknowledge Gojyo's tongue in Hakkai's ear or the delicate blush burning beneath the green-eyed man's pale skin.  
  
In the face of sudden vindication, Sanzo lost all rancor toward the bear and reigned in his surprise to adopt the expression with which his audience was most familiar. "Found you. The saru's worrying."  
  
Hakkai flushed at Sanzo's voice, jumping away from Gojyo's mouth. Said redhead glanced between Hakkai and Sanzo, taking in the expressions on their faces. And threw his head back to laugh. 


End file.
